page_title: Chinese people in Myanmar
section_title: Trade and industry
hierarchical_section_title: Chinese people in Myanmar / Trade and industry
caption_attribution_description: English: Mandalay, Myanmar
context_page_description: Burmese Chinese, also Sino-Burmese or Tayoke, are a group of overseas Chinese born or raised in Myanmar. Burmese Chinese constitute one group of overseas Chinese and is relatively small compared to other overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia. Although the Chinese officially make up three percent of the population, the actual figure is believed to be much higher. Among the under-counted Chinese populations are: those of mixed background; those that have registered themselves as “ethnic Bamar” to avoid discrimination; those that moved to Myanmar from China during earlier Qing Dynasty because of Manchu rule; new Chinese immigrants and traders that have resided in Upper Myanmar since the 1990s but are not counted due to the lack of reliable census taking. As of 2012, the Burmese Chinese population is estimated to be at 1.6 million.
  Burmese Chinese are a well established middle class ethnic group and are well represented in all levels of Burmese society. Burmese Chinese also play a leading role in Myanmar's business sector and dominate the Burmese economy today.
context_section_description: Like much of Southeast Asia, ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs dominate Burmese commerce at every level of society. Entrepreneurial savvy Chinese have literally taken over Myanmar's entire economy. Burmese Chinese wield tremendous economic clout and influence over their indigenous Burman majority counterparts and play a critical role in maintaining the country's economic vitality and prosperity. Entire Chinese enclaves have sprung up in major cities across the country. Burmese Chinese a disproportionate wealthy, market-dominant minority not only form a distinct ethnic community, they also form, by and large, an economically advantaged social class: the commercial middle and upper class in contrast to the poorer indigenous Burmese majority working and underclass around them.
  Mandalay is now the economic and financial nerve center of Upper Myanmar and is considered the epicenter of Burmese Chinese business culture. An influx of poor Han Chinese immigrants, mostly from the Yunnan province have continuously increased the dynamics of the economy throughout the entire nation and transformed Mandalay into the prosperous trading center that it is today. Established Sino-Burmese businessmen continue to remain at the helm of Myanmar's economy, where the Chinese minority have been transformed almost overnight into a garishly distinctive prosperous business community. Much of the foreign investment capital into the Burmese economy has been from Mainland Chinese investors and channeled though Burmese Chinese business networks for new startup businesses or foreign acquisitions. Many members of the Burmese Chinese business community act as agents for Mainland and overseas Chinese investors outside of Myanmar. In 1988, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) came to power, and gradually loosened the government's role in the economy, encouraging private sector growth and foreign investment. This liberalization of state's role in the economy, if slight and uneven, nonetheless gave Burmese Chinese-led businesses extra space to expand and reassert their economic clout. Today, virtually all of Myanmar's retail, wholesale and shipping firms are in Chinese hands. For example, Sein Gayha, a major Burmese retailer that began in Yangon's Chinatown in 1985, is owned by a Burmese Hakka family. Moreover, ethnic Chinese control the nations four of the five largest commercial banks, Myanmar Universal Bank, Yoma Bank, Myanmar Mayflower Bank, and the Asia Wealth Bank. Today, Myanmar's ethnic Chinese community are now at the forefront of opening up the country's economy, especially towards Mainland China as an international overseas Chinese economic outpost. The Chinese government has been very proactive in engaging with the overseas Chinese diaspora and using China's soft power to help the Burmese Chinese community stay close to their roots in order to foster business ties. Much of the foreign investment from Mainland China now entering Myanmar is being channeled through overseas Chinese bamboo networks. Many members of the Burmese Chinese business community often act as agents for expatriate and overseas Chinese investors outside of Myanmar.
  Ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs have been increasingly involved Mandalay's economy since the imposition of sanctions by the United States and the European Union in the 1990s. During Myanmar's open door immigration policy in the 1990s, Mandalay became the most remarkable destination for massive Chinese migration. With the onset of economic liberalization and the rise of free market capitalism in Myanmar, members of the Sino-Burmese community gravitated towards business and adhere to the Chinese paradigm of guanxi which is based on the importance of having contacts, relationships and connections as ingredients for business success. Following Myanmar's new market transformation, Chinese immigrants from Yunnan were able to obtain identity papers on the black market to become naturalized Burmese citizens overnight. Many foreign-born Chinese obtained Burmese citizenship cards on the black market. Identity cards were 
caption: Mandalay continues to be Myanmar's major financial district and business networking hub for Burmese Chinese businessmen. The city is now teeming with thousands of prospering Chinese businesses.[27][28][29][30][31]
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